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Walk the talk with Vice Chancellors

I LABIBA FAIAZ BARI & TANVIR I | AHMED CHOWDHURY
What makes a graduate stand out among a large pool of qualified candidates in the job market? What is it that potentially differentiates a candidate from another during the application process? What are the possible qualities recruiters look for when it comes to hiring an employee?
Some obvious questions pop up in mind when you look for a job of your interest. If you want to excel in a career you are dreaming of, you should know where you stand, and find a way to improve the areas you are struggling in. With this in mind, five vice chancellors and a chairman from six private universities share their thoughts on the importance of having a good skill set for pursuing a successful career and how their universities are contributing in this regard.
'Tutorial-based education can increase industry-based knowledge'
Professor Dr Mohammad Mahfuzul Islam, Vice Chancellor, Canadian University of Bangladesh
We are now living in an age where information and communication technology dominates the world. The textual learnings that we derive from books provide us with very limited scope to prosper in practical settings. For instance, students in the marketing department learn several concepts on marketing strategies. But little do they apply those concepts in the practical field as all kinds of marketing operations are conducted through the online communication system, which is not included in their syllabus. For this reason, we need more practical skills to cope with the changes at this age.
Our university has a unique approach to enhance the basic skills of the students alongside the regular curricula. We have incorporated a tutorial-based education approach inour system where students get to solve several industrial case studies after attending the regular theoretical lectures. Though it requires a lot of effort to run this system, our faculties are pulling it off and teaching our students about the real-life implications of the theories they are studying. We have also developed two technological tools to develop the skills of both teachers and students. The University Management System (UMS) deals with the strategic functions and operations of our institutions and the other software Moodie deals with the academic activities. Apart from that, we have eight clubs in our facilities to develop leadership skills of the students.
The number of universities is increasing, but most of these universities compromise on qualities. Since they focus only on the commercial side of their institutions, they do not recruit instructors with the required qualities. As a result, the graduates from these institutions do not receive much practical knowledge from faculties and cannot match the needs of different industries. When these graduates go to the industrial
field, they cannot offer innovative ideas to run the industries. Consequentially, these industries fail to increase their capacity to create more job opportunities.
In order to cope with the contemporary world, we need to restructure our curricula. Also, we have to recruit quality instructors so that they can teach students about industry-based knowledge. Theory-based education and skill-based programmes should go hand in hand to produce the best graduates in the market.
'English communication skills can help a student excel in the market' Professor Dr ANM Meshquat Uddin, Vice Chancellor, Southeast University
The ability to communicate in English is very important in the contemporary world. Students should have a good command over this language. Besides, ethics and manners, leadership quality and team management, which are often termed as "soft skills", are equally important for students to increase their capabilities. The textual knowledge that we get from books is of minimal help to build this skill set. Every student should work hard in their own capacity
to acquire these skills.
We have a career professional service department which focuses on skill enhancement and professional development of our students. This department regularly arranges training programmes for students where nationally and internationally recognised professionals come to run the sessions. Another activity of the department is to prepare the students for internship placement. We have allocated a large portion of our budget for this department. Besides, we have various clubs which help discover the potential of students. Our activities in the debating, computer, social skill, games and sports, and cultural clubs help the students engage in extracurricular activities besides academic programmes.
We believe the skills of a faculty are equally important. For this reason, we have established the Institute of Research and Training which provides funds for the faculties, aiming to conduct constructive research studies.
Most universities do not offer work-oriented education; as a result, the number of unemployed graduates increases every year. The curriculum of
the university has to be restructured to facilitate skill-based learning. Moreover, every university should arrange a regular dialogue with the stakeholders such as employers, alumni, parents, university grant commission, etc., so that the university authorities can understand the expectations and demands of these relevant bodies. Besides, a good university should analyse the demands for jobs in several sectors and turn their students into competent human resources. Also, universities should offer well-structured post-graduation programmes which will enable students to learn researchbased advanced courses.
'Quality education can create the path to success' Professor Dr Aminul Hoque, Vice Chancellor, Eastern University
Adopting the latest technology in their own domain should be the first priority of a student. After completing their bachelor's degree, graduates should take special training related to their degrees to meet the demands of the employers. Regarding this, the faculties can provide them with the basic guidelines to take necessary courses of their interest at the final year of university. If a student maps out their own career goals and adopts necessary measures accordingly, that particular student will not remain unemployed after the successful completion of their degree.
The universities should not only adopt technology for skills improvement but also provide the platform to make the best use of it.
Also, students should expand their knowledge and master the art of expressing self-worth.
Moral learning and ethics are equally important to adjust to the system they are going to work in. Besides, universities should offer postgraduation degrees in respective fields. Having a post-graduation degree will enable the students to have proper insight of the practical world.
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